1. Field of the invention
The present invention is related to clamping garment hangers of the class utilizing two hangably interconnected jaws which are mutually clampably locked by operation of a lever, and more particularly to a garment hanger of the aforesaid class which is further provided with a secondary clamping system for accommodating a wide range of garment thicknesses between the two jaws without danger of the garment hanger being damaged by being oversprung.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Clamping garment hangers are well known in the prior art, such as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 1,955,792 to Deknatel, dated Apr. 24, 1934. Such clamping garment hangers are composed of two opposing jaws which are mutually hinged and which are mutually clamped together so as to hold garments therebetween by operation of a lever mechanism connected with the hanger and a pair of leg members, each leg member being, in turn, connected with a respective jaw.
Clampable garment hangers clamp adequately well with respect to garments placed between the jaws when they are new, but over time, the leg members tend to became oversprung, thereby deleteriously reducing the clamping force between the jaws. This oversprung condition is accelerated when the garments placed between the jaws is quite thick, such as would happen when a user places two, three or four pairs of pants between the jaws.
Also, even though a rotating bearing may be connected with the lever mechanism, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,955,792, there is still deteriorative erosion at the lever engagement point, seriously reducing the clamping force and rendering locking in the clamped state unreliable, in either case making garment holding less effective or impossible.
Accordingly, what is needed is a clamping garment hanger which is able to accommodate thick garments without being oversprung and which is insensitive to erosion over long-term usage.